Launching device for rockets



3,461,773 LAUNCHING DEVICE FOR ROCKETS Henry Wilhelm Aldrin, Bofors, and Erik Birger Kindrot Karlskoga, Sweden, assignors to Aktiebolaget Bofors, Bofors, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 452,630,

May 3, 1965. This application June 1, 1967, Ser.

Claims priority, application Sweden, May 6, 1964,

Int. oi. rm 3/04 US. Cl. 89-1.805 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A launching device for a rocket missle in which a preassembled rail-and-rocket unit is attached to the carrier head of the launching device in a position transverse of the general plane of the carrier head rather than length wise of the unit so that the space required for mounting the unit does not substantially exceed the over-all length of the unit. The device also comprises means for securing the unit in a predetermined transverse position in reference to the carrier head.

The present application is a continuation-in-part application corresponding to our copending application Ser. No. 452,630 filed May 3, 1965 now abandoned.

The present invention relates to a launching device for a rocket-type missile which is carried, prior to being fired, by a launching rail attached to a launching stand or other suitable support member, such as a wing of an airplane. When fired, the rocket becomes separated from the rail, which remains on the stand or other support member. More particularly, the invention relates to a launching I device of this type in which the rocket is preassembled on the launching rail, and the rocket and the rail are secured as a unit to the launching stand or other support.

The present development is that rockets for military purposes--that is, warhead-carrying rocketsare becoming longer and longer. The advent of such long rockets, which require correspondingly long launching rails, has created several new problems with respect to the mounting of a rocket-and-rail unit on the launching stand or other support therefor.

The conventional mode of loading a launching rail with a rocket attached thereto is to bring the assembly lengthwise to the stand or other support. Such lengthwise mounting, which is usually carried out from the rear of the stand or support, requires considerable space behind the stand or support, and it is often difficult to provide such space, for instance, when the stand is mounted on the deck of a small naval craft.

Another problem is the loading of an empty launching stand with a rocket taken from a magazine disposed below a deck of a ship on which the launching stand is mounted. With loading arrangements of this kind as heretofore known, a rocket taken from the magazine must first be mounted on a launching rail by placing the rocket in a more or less upright position. Such mode of mounting presupposes that the height between the deck supporting the stand and the respective lower deck on which the magazine is mounted is at least equal to the length of the rocket, and such height between decks frequently is not available.

It is a broad object of the invention to provide a novel and improved launching device of the general kind above referred to which permits loading of the launching rail and the rocket sidewise in reference to the axis of the launching stand or other support member; that is, in

United States Patent substantially mutually parallel positions of the axes of the stand or other support, the rail and the rocket.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved launching device including coacting fastening means on the launching rail and the stand or other support which will receive a rail and a rocket as a preassembled unit in sidewise position and will retain the rail on the stand or other support when the rocket is launched.

Another more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved launching device in which the rail-and-rocket unit is secured on the stand or other support against lengthwise displacement in reference thereto.

Other and further objects, features and advantages will be pointed out hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims constituting part of the application.

In the accompanying drawing a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an elevational diagrammatic view of a launching device according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a view, partly in section, of the fastening means of the device.

The exemplified launching device comprises an upright support, such as a column 2, mounted stationarily on a base 1, which may be visualized as part of the deck of a ship, such as a small naval craft. Column 2 mounts a support member 3 which is rotatable in reference to column 2 about a perpendicular axis. Member 3 in turn mounts an elongated, preferably flexible bar 13 which is supported on member 3 pivotal about an axis transverse in reference to the rotational axis of member 3. Bar 13 supports a carrier head 24- which is slidable along bar 13 for the purpose of moving the head into a loading position for attaching a preassembled launching rail-androcket unit thereto.

The mounting of support 3 on column 2; the mounting of bar 13 on support 3; and the mounting of carrier head 24 on bar 13 are more fully described in our copending application entitled Launching Assemblage for Rockets, filed May 4, 1965 under Ser. No. 453,008.

As stated before, carrier head 24 serves to receive a launching rail 30 with a rocket 37 attached thereto. The rocket should be visualized as having been mounted on rail 30 in a manner such that it will become separated from the rail when fired. The rail and the rocket are secured on carrier head 24 as a unit. To effect such as sernbly, a pair of coacting fastening means 31 and 32 are provided on the carrier head and the rail, respectively. These fastening means, which are spaced lengthwise, comprise rails or tongues 34 and 36 laterally extending from the carrier head and engageable with guide tracks 33 and 35, which preferably are formed in raised portions on the respective side of rail 30. The fastening means extend crosswise of rail 30 so that they will receive the rail with the rocket attached thereto in a direction transverse of the longitudinal plane of carrier head 24. Acoordingly, the fastening means permit sidewise loading of the rocket-rail unit, thereby eliminating the need for a substantial space behind the stand; that is, to the right of column 2 as shown. As may be noted, guide tracks 33 and 35 face in opposite directions, thereby preventing axial displacement of the rail, and with it of the rocket, in reference to carrier head 24.

The fastening means are shown in detail in FIG. 2 for the right end of the rocket-rail unit. Launching rail 30 is hollow either along its entire length or only at its leading portion and its trailing portion. 4

Asis shown in FIG. 2, guide track 35 is formed by an extension of rail 30 defining in conjunction with the main body of the rail a groove or track for slidably receiving therein tongue 36 extending from carrier head 24, preferably integral therewith.

To locate the rail-and-rocket unit in a predetermined transverse position in reference to the general plane of carrier head 24, a cut-out 36a is provided in tongue 36. This cut-out is engageable with an arm 40a of a twoarmed lever 40 pivotal about a pin 41 mounted in rail 30. The second arm 40]) of lever 40 is suitably linked to a release rod 38, preferably protruding from the rear wall of rail 30. A bolt 45 coacts with lever arm 40a to bias the same into counter-clockwise direction, that is, toward engagement with cut-out 36 by the action of a loaded coil spring 46 mounted within rail 30, preferably in a sleeve 47 threaded into a bore of the rail body.

As is evident, displacement of release rod 38 toward the left as seen in FIG. 2, forces lever arm 40a out of engagement with cut-out 36a.

To facilitate mounting of the locating assemblage just described, an opening 48 in the rail wall is preferably provided. This opening may be closed after installation of the locking assemblage by a suitably secured cover 30a.

As is evident, during insertion of the rail-and-rocket unit in the direction transverse of carrier head 24, lever arm 40a will slide along the respective edge of tongue 36 until it moves into registry with cut-out 36 whereupon lever 40 will be snapped into the cut-out by the action of spring 46.

The lever may be held out of engagement with cut-out 36:: or withdrawn therefrom by pressing against the protruding end of release rod 3-8. Such pressure may be manually effected, or by means of a cam surface 50 on a magazine for rockets or another suitable component, diagrammatically indicated at 51. As it is readily apparent, rod 38 will be forced toward the left when the unit is lowered in reference to cam surface 50.

An assemblage such as shown in FIG. 2 is, of course, also provided at the other end of carrier head 24, though in mirror position.

Instead of extending the fastening means 31 and 32 transversely of the plane of carrier head 24, and hence also transversely of the plane of mounting bar 13, it is also possible and within the scope of the invention to turn the fastening means so that they extend substantially in the plane of carrier head 24 and bar 13. It is essential only that the fastening means he so oriented that they permit sidewise loading of the rail-and-rocket unit and prevent lengthwise displacement thereof in reference to carrier head 24.

The preassembled rail-rocket unit may be secured on the carrier head 24 against transverse displacement in reference thereto by additional suitable conventional fastening means of the snap fastener type.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to a certain now preferred example and embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A launching device for a rocket missile, said device comprising a support member having a planar surface, a launching-rail member having self-releasing attached thereto a rocket to be fired, said launching-rail member and said rocket constituting a preassembled railand-rocket unit attachable as a unit to the support member, and fastening means on said support member and said rail member of said unit slidably engageable with each other in a direction transverse of the planar surface of the support member for sidewise and releasably attaching said rail-and-rocket unit to the support member and supporting the unit on the support member parallel to the planar surface thereof, the fastening means of one of said members including a pair of lengthwise spaced guide tracks of generally U-shaped cross-section and extending crosswise of said member, the open sides of aid guide tracks facing in opposite directions, and the fastening means of the other of said members including a pair of lengthwise spaced mounting rails extending crosswise of said member and engageable with said tracks.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said fastening means lock said rail-and-rocket unit when fastened on the support member in a fixed lengthwise position in reference thereto.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said launching rail member has on its side facing the support member when supported thereon two transversely extending raised portions, said oppositely facing guide tracks being formed in said raised portions.

4. A launching device for launching a rocket missile, said device comprising an upright member for mounting on a base, a support member mounted atop said upright member rotatable about a perpendicular axis, a mounting bar pivotally secured to said support member, a generally plate-shaped carrier head secured on said mounting bar, a launching rail having self-releasing attached thereto a rocket to be fired, said launching rail and said rocket constituting a preassembled rail-and-rocket unit for simultaneously attaching the rail and the rocket as a unit to the carrier head, a first pair of fastening means rigidly secured to the carrier head and the launching rail respectively and extending transversely of the general planes of the carrier head and the launching rail respectively, and a second pair of fastening means rigidly secured to the carrier head and the rail respectively spaced apart from said first pair and extending transversely of the general planes of the carrier head and the launching rail respectively, the fastening means of both said pairs being simultaneously movable into engagement with each other by a motion of the rail-and-rocket unit transverse of the general plane of the carrier head whereby the fastening means support said unit on the carrier head parallel to the general plane thereof but block displacement of the unit in said plane.

5. A launching device according to claim 4 wherein said fastening means comprises a pair of spaced apart fastening assemblages on said support member and said rail member, each of said fastening assemblages including a guide groove on the launching rail member extending transversely of the length thereof and a tongue on the support member extending transversely of the plane thereof and engageable with said guide groove for suspending the rail-and-rocket unit from the support member, and releasable locating means for each of said fastening assemblages, each of said locating means coacting with said tongue for releasably retaining said unit in a predetermined transverse position in reference to the plane of the support member.

6. A launching device according to claim 5 wherein the open sides of said grooves on the rail member face in opposite direction to prevent lengthwise displacement of said unit in reference to the general plane of the support member.

7. A launching device according to claim 5 wherein each of said locating means comprises a locking member movably mounted on said launching rail member, each of said locking members being movable into and out of engagement with a recess in the respective tongue when said rail member is in a predetermined transverse position in reference to the plane of the support member, and a yieldable means for each of said locking members to bias the respective locking member toward said position of engagement.

8. A launching device according to claim 7 wherein each of said locking members comprises a two-armed lever pivotally mounted on the launching rail member, and each of said yieldable means comprises a spring loaded bolt engaging one arm of the respective lever to bias the same toward its position of engagement.

9. A launching device according to claim 8 wherein each of said fastening assemblages comprises a release means including a release bar movable in the rail member and linked to the other arm of the respective lever for pivoting the same out of the respective recess against the action of the respective yieldable means.

10. A launching device according to claim 9 wherein said release bar is lengthwise slidable in said rail member and protrudes from an end wall thereof, and comprising a pair of loading means for attaching the rail-and-rocket unit to the support member, each of said means including a guide surface coacting with the protruding end of the respective release bar for displacing the same into a position in which the respective locking member is in a disengaged position against the action of the respective yieldable means, release of either bar from the respective guide surface freeing the respective bar and thus the respective lever for pivotal movement of the latter into engagement with the respective recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 

